Comment Re:GMO != genetic selection (Score 2) 586
GMO's have been around since before I was born yet I'm closing on 30.
Yes and No. Scientists first discovered that DNA can transfer between organisms in 1946. The first genetically modified plant was produced in 1983, using an antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant. In 1994, the transgenic Flavr Savr tomato (the first GMO food) was approved by the FDA for marketing in the US - the modification allowed the tomato to delay ripening after picking. In the early 1990s, recombinant chymosin was approved for use in several countries, replacing rennet in cheese-making. In the US in 1995, the following transgenic crops received marketing approval: canola with modified oil composition (Calgene), Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn/maize (Ciba-Geigy), cotton resistant to the herbicide bromoxynil (Calgene), Bt cotton (Monsanto), Bt potatoes (Monsanto), soybeans resistant to the herbicide glyphosate (Monsanto), virus-resistant squash (Monsanto-Asgrow), and additional delayed ripening tomatoes (DNAP, Zeneca/Peto, and Monsanto). In 2000, with the creation of golden rice, scientists genetically modified food to increase its nutrient value for the first time. As of 2011, the U.S. leads a list of multiple countries in the production of GM crops, and 25 GM crops had received regulatory approval to be grown commercially. As of 2013, roughly 85% of corn, 91% of soybeans, and 88% of cotton produced in the United States are genetically modified.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food
So yes, technically GMO's have been around since before you were born, but GMO foods have only been around since 1994.
They're not being brought in terribly fast,the complaint that they're coming in too fast probably predates my birth as well.
85% of corn in the U.S. is GMO
91% of soybeans is GMO
88% of cotton is GMO
That means that within 19 years (since 1994), only 15% or less of those crops are conventionally grown anymore. If that much of a majority of GMO in 19 years isn't too fast, I don't know what is.